Take Two translates the day’s headlines for Southern California, making sense of the news and cultural events that affect our lives. Produced by Southern California Public Radio and broadcast from October 2012 – June 2021. Hosted by A Martinez.
In the past few months, multiple wildfires have stretched California's resources thin, putting a strain on crews and equipment.
So why does the state have tens of millions of dollars in a fire prevention fund that remains unspent?
Sacramento Bee reporter Jim Miller writes the Capitol Alert blog and looked into what's called the State Responsibility Area Fire Prevention Fund.
In response to KPCC's questions about the fund, Daniel Berlant, spokesperson for Cal Fire said in a statement:
"The Fire Prevention Fee Fund is a relatively new fund, so while in the first year we were able to spend $51 million on fire prevention, that has gone up to nearly $93 million this past fiscal year. In just the past couple years we have been able to use over $200 million on critical fire prevention projects like brush clearance, fuel breaks, defensible space inspections, and evacuation routes."